Serenity's Prayer: The B-Sides
by ladylibre
Summary: This is an assorted collection of outtakes, ALT POVs, and unused scenes from my completed fic, "Serenity's Prayer." They won't make sense if you haven't read the story, but I introduce each one in context to jog your memory. Suggestions are welcome! xoox
1. From Chapter 10, Afterglow

**Disclaimer: Ms. Stephenie Meyer owns everything in the Twiverse, and, alas, I am not she. But I can still have lots of fun playing with her characters!**

**As promised, here is the first outtake/ALT POV/Deleted Scene from "Serenity's Prayer." If you have any suggestions, let me know!  
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**And PLEASE SEE my closing A/N. Thank you!**

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**DELETED SCENE/ALT POV from the end of CHAPTER 10: AFTERGLOW**

**(Bella and Edward reconcile in his room, and she tells him she isn't sure she wants to be changed. He promises to support her no matter what, then she visits with the family and makes peace with Jasper. Emmett starts being Emmett, so she and Edward leave the house.)**

**Edward's POV**

Bella leaned up to kiss me, her eyes soft and seeking. "Take me to our meadow."

I returned her kiss, grateful we were of like mind. My family's enthusiasm for our reunion was welcome, but I wanted to revel in it with Bella and without their comments.

Emmett's in particular.

I kissed her sweet lips once more then bent to the ground for her to climb on my back. "Hold on tight."

She nuzzled my ear. "I'll never let go again."

Spurred by her promise, we flew toward our secluded slice of heaven, my feet barely touching the ground. As we drew closer to our sacred spot, my mind returned to our first visit to my outdoor oasis: my trusting, fearless angel placing her very life in my hands to cradle or crush according to the whims of my thirst.

_How could I ever have contemplated leaving her?_

We came to a stop along the meadow's edge, and I dropped to one knee for her to climb down. She slipped her hand into mine, the gesture filling my heart to overflowing, and I was forced to close my eyes.

"Edward?" I noted the concern in her voice. "What is it?"

"Just give me a moment." Though she had forgiven me, though we agreed to forget about yesterday, my heart had not yet fully recovered from my brain's folly. And the longer I stood there counting the cost of what I had almost thrown away, the worse I felt.

"Hey." Bella caressed my fingers, her gentle touch soothing my soul. "Stop doing that."

I cleared my throat, poorly disguising my preoccupation. "Doing what?"

"Thinking about it." Her loving eyes sought mine, leveling me with their insight. "That's not what we came here for."

The reminder seeped through my haze of regrets, and I attempted to smile. "Why did we come here?"

"To pick up where we left off before Alice interrupted us." She stood on tiptoe and nuzzled my nose. "Have you already forgotten?"

My hands curled around her back, pressing her to my chest. "No, love. I most certainly have not forgotten."

She bent to my ear, nipping my lobe. "Then act like it."

And with that, she took off running toward the meadow.

Surprised and delighted, I waited a beat before chasing after her at a human pace. Catching her quickly would prove no great feat, but Bella was feeling playful, and I had never beheld a more beautiful diversion.

"What's the matter, old man?" She taunted as she trotted backwards. "Legs not as young as they used to be?"

I blurred past her, stopping a few feet beyond where she stood. "On the contrary, I've never felt younger."

She squealed in delight as she turned around, and I made a show of reaching out and coming up empty-handed as she darted to the left. "So much for those vampire reflexes!"

We zigged and zagged across the meadow as the sun began to set in the distance, Bella's shrieking laughter filling my heart to overflowing as it echoed around us. My eyes never left her, reveling in the sight: her flushed cheeks, the thin sheen of sweat on her forehead, the heaving of her chest as she eluded me.

She was beautifully human, as I'd always desired.

And she was also mine, as I'd almost squandered.

I shivered against the thought and focused on a more pleasant consequence of our current situation. Bella's exertions also intensified her scent, and as she passed me once more, I began to crave a different sort of physical activity.

I grabbed her around the waist, and she shrieked as I lifted her from the ground, trapping her in my embrace. "Enough running."

Her wild eyes studied my face as she wrapped her legs around my waist. "Tired, Mr. Masen?"

The sound of my human name sent a trickle of pleasure down my spine, and I held her closer. "Not tired, no."

Her soft breasts pressed against my chest with each inhale, distracting me as she spoke. "Then why did you end our fun?"

I chuckled low in my throat. "On the contrary, love. Our fun is just beginning."

She grinned, a wicked glint in her eye. "Good answer."

I couldn't say which of us advanced first, only that when our lips met, we groaned together. Smiling, nipping, and tasting, we twirled in the center of our meadow, the world around us completely forgotten.

Cupping my face in her warm hands, Bella parted her lips with a tilt of her head, deepening our kiss. She rose in my arms then, angling for dominance, and I let her force us to the ground, my arm braced behind me to keep us upright.

Though she bounced in my arms a bit, she did not break out kiss, choosing instead to press her advantage and me flat onto my back as she lay prostrate on top of me. Her private heat aroused me on contact, and as I rolled against her, she smiled against my lips.

"Yes." She dragged out the word. "This is more fun than running."

I slid my hands up her legs, her answering shiver doing delectable things to my body. "Much more."

My hands continued their assent up her body, and as she wriggled against me, I helped myself to a generous portion of her ass.

Yes, her _ass._

I wouldn't dare use the word aloud, believing it too vulgar. But in my mind and in my hands, her beautiful behind became her ass. One I would grip and grope whenever I got the chance.

Bella squeaked in surprise as my fingers squeezed her flesh, and I repeated the action with relish. She kissed me once more, licking my lip, and I was dismayed when she sat up.

"This is nice." She ran her fingers through her hair, frowning. "But something's wrong."

Her saucy tone intrigued me, and I caressed her leg in reply. "And what might that be?"

"I'm wearing far too many layers."

"Is that so?" I swallowed hard, reaching toward the top of her sweatshirt. "Then allow me to remedy that for you."

She gasped and swatted my hands. "Didn't anyone ever teach you not to interrupt a woman?"

"My apologies."

"Now you just lie back and enjoy the show."

I crossed my hands behind my head. "Yes, ma'am."

Holding my gaze, Bella took her time unzipping her sweatshirt, rocking her hips with scandalous deliberation. Her hands gripped both sides of the shirt as if to remove it, and she opened and shut it quickly, giving me an all-too-brief peek at the hidden treasures beneath.

"Minx."

She giggled, discarding the offending item behind her on the ground. I couldn't say what her face did next as I was focused on the lacy blue contraption blocking my view of her bosom. I traced the delicate swells above the scalloped cups with my eyes, my tongue swiping my bottom lip impatiently, and her hips stopped moving. The loss of friction wasn't enough to divert my attention, so she cleared her throat.

I watched her place her hands on her stilled hips. "Eyes up here, please."

My eyes darted between her face and chest, helpless to ignore the latter. "You'll have to forgive me. I'm a bit distracted."

"By these?" She looked down at herself then back at me. "Well, let's not do things halfway."

Reaching behind herself, Bella unhooked her bra and slipped it from her shoulders. Hooking a strap around one finger, she pulled the other one taut before releasing it, flinging the bra across the meadow. Resting her hands at her sides, her sparkling eyes met mine. "Oops."

As if stealing the breath from my lungs, a soft wind blew across the field, hardening Bella's nipples as it passed over her skin. She writhed in delight, goosebumps rippling across her bare torso and chest. Her twinkling eyes never left me, watching… waiting.

And I was powerless to do anything but stare.

At her body, her boldness, her beauty… all of it exclusively available for my viewing pleasure.

I didn't know if I could take it.

Bella's breathing was deep and even as I studied her, but as the moment stretched without my comment, she arched a brow, a coy smile about her lips.

"Nothing to say, Mr. Masen?" She lifted a shoulder. "I would have thought you would…"

"Shhh." The command was as gentle as I could make it, given my entire body trembled with need, with anticipation, with every possible feeling such inhuman loveliness could inspire. "Just let me look at you."

Bella straightened herself and rested her arms at her sides, her breasts on better display, as if such were possible. Beginning at her thick, lustrous hair, my eyes began their descent down her body, over her moonlit face down the smooth column of her throat to where it rounded into her shoulders.

Glancing at her once more, I shifted my gaze to her exposed bosom, engorging myself on the creams and contours of her exquisite skin. Though my fingers itched to stroke, my mouth longed to taste, I wanted to study her, to memorize her every freckle and flush with my sight and mind before exploring further with the more powerful senses of taste and touch.

But as I traced the curve of one breast with my eyes, I found myself leaning in, my body moving toward her of its own accord. There was something I had to do, something urgent and pressing that could not be avoided.

I reached up with one hand to steady her, the heat from her skin singeing my aching palm. "Be very still," I murmured, knowing she would remember.

Bella inhaled softly as I brought my head to rest against her bare chest, my ear pressing against the music of her heart. Her warm exhale sent a thrill through my body, and she ran her hands through my hair. "Oh, Edward…"

I remained as still I could, reveling in the fragrant heat of her chest and the thrill of her fingers scratching my scalp. She was so soft, so unspeakably soft, and I could have spent the rest of the night cocooned in her embrace and been satisfied.

But when she turned my head so that I was nose-to-nipple with her breast, my intentions abruptly changed and I took her gently into my wanting mouth.

She arched her back as her hands fell away, and I slipped an arm around her back to steady her. With delicate brushes of my tongue, I suckled her softness as if it contained the very essence of life. Her racing heartbeat tapped out a wild rhythm in my head, and I gradually increased my tempo as her chest heaved around me.

"Yes," she panted, her hands finding their way to my head once more. "Yes, Edward."

As I kissed my way to her right breast, I laid Bella down on the discarded sweatshirt. I kept my hips askew, wanting to focus on the sweet task at hand. But Bella hooked a finger in my belt loop, trying to pull me fully on top of her.

"Wait, love." I tongued her right nipple to distract her. "I have not finished here."

"You're a gifted vampire," she moaned as she tugged more insistently. "Surely you can multitask." Her other hand slid across my back pockets, caressing me there. "Please?"

I could have resisted her pulling all night. But to hear my love beg for something I could safely give her…

Even I was only inhuman.

Her legs parted to receive me, and I rolled myself between them, hissing between my teeth as our bodies connected. I raised my head from her pouty breast lest I suckle too hard, closing my eyes.

"Bella…" I swallowed past the lump in my throat, wishing for once she could read _my _ mind. "There are no words… for this, for you… I need to…"

"I know, love." Her hand cupped my cheek as she raised my head. "I know, and it's all right. Just… feel with me." She raised her hips into mine. "Be with me."

My head tilted back as a spark of pleasure shot from my center throughout my body. I licked my teeth as Bella pressed against me again, fisting my hand to keep from grabbing her hips and thrusting as instinct demanded.

"Bella…" She continued her maddening rhythm against me. "God, Bella…"

"Move with me." Her breathy coaxing pushed me closer and closer to that dangerous point of no return. "Feel with me."

"Bella, I…"

"I trust you," she said firmly. "Now I want to feel you."

There was no way to continue this without me coming completely undone, so I flipped us back to our original position, holding her in place as she straddled me. The dangerous glint in her eyes returned, and I tightened my grip on her hips. "You must go slowly," I chided. "Very slowly."

She rested her hands on my cheeks, burying her face in my neck. "Okay."

"And you have to let me know if it gets to be too…"

"Shut up, Edward," she murmured as she placed an open kiss to the hollow in my throat, rolling her hips into mine for emphasis. "Just… shut up."

And with care and caution, we played within the subtly widening boundaries of our physical relationship until the ensuing darkness expelled us from the meadow.

**I was really nervous about this, as it's been a while in SP since E&B were virgins, but I think it came out all right. What do you think?**

**ALSO…** **"Serenity's Prayer" has been nominated for Top Ten Completed Fics - June 2013! Vote today through August 1st, once per day: twifanfictionrecs dot com slash category slash top-ten-fics slash top-ten-completed-fics-jun-2013. This would not have happened if not for one of you, so THANK YOU!**


	2. From Chapter 13, Visiting the Cullens

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns everything in the Twiverse. No copyright infringement intended.**

**DELETED SCENE/ALT POV from the end of CHAPTER 13: VISITING THE CULLENS**

**(Laurent and Irina visit the Cullens, and he apologizes for mistreating Bella. While Bella is at Brittany's sleepover, the boys go hunting. Jasper encourages Edward to admit his desire for Bella and talk to her about it. Then Emmett arrives.)**

****I'm VERY nervous about this one, so I hope you enjoy it.** **

**Jasper's POV**

I smiled in spite of Edward's rising discomfort. "Yes, I am definitely as happy as Emmett is. And if you want similar happiness with Bella, the two of you must come to terms with your sexuality."

"Sexuality?" Emmett boomed as he climbed atop our rock. "Is Eddie ready for that talk we've been meaning to have with him? Finally! Jazz, fetch me two round rocks, a clump of moss, two pine cones, and a big stick." He grinned at Edward. "Visual aids."

Edward glared at me, and I laughed as I stepped away on a fool's errand.

The spike in Edward's anxiety shouted his thoughts: _"This conversation was about to get a whole lot worse." _

I scoured the forest for the requested items, knowing Emmett had no intention of using them seriously. But the prospect of teasing Edward in this, his strongest known area of weakness, was too much for my burly _compadre_ to pass up.

And I couldn't say I blamed him.

Securing the requested items, I whistled my way back toward my brothers, Emmett clapping his hands as I emerged from the trees.

"Righteous, Bro!" He shoved Edward off the rock before taking the collection from my hands. "Ooh, these are gonna work great. I knew you were the right man for the job."

"Keeping Alice happy is a full-time job." I copped a squat on the ground, doing my best to ignore Edward's heavy scowling. "But Lawd knows I don't mind the overtime."

Emmett slapped my back. "Hear, hear!"

Edward rolled his eyes, preparing to protest, and I glanced at him. "Bella's out of your reach for another nine hours, Alice and Rose are on their way to L.A. to hit up Rodeo as soon as the first store opens, so you might as well sit down and learn something," I concluded. _"For Bella's sake, if not your own."_

His scowl lifting just slightly, Edward scooted forward, his arms clasped around his knees. "I have a condition."

"Just one?" I asked as Emmett used the stick to outline the simulated body parts on the ground. "Remember who you're dealing with here."

"This condition covers all other potential conditions." The apprehension rolling off him was enough to make me gag. "Try not to be grosser than you have to."

Emmett looked up. "Gross?"

"You know…" Edward waved his hand. "Explicit, graphic."

Emmett dropped the stick. "I don't get it. You mean you'd rather hear 'penis' than 'cock'?"

Edward winced. "For starters."

"You've got to be kidding." I tossed an errant rock behind us. "The clinical term is worse than any derivative I've ever heard."

Emmett nodded. "Wilson, schlong, dick, one-eyed trouser snake, magic stick…"

"Emmett…"

"… Long john silver, power drill, beef bayonet…"

"See?" Edward shook his head. "This is exactly what I didn't want. It's impossible to take this seriously if that's what you're going to do."

Emmett looked at me pointedly and continued his drawing of the woman on the ground. I laid a comforting hand on Edward's shoulder, lifting it when he flinched. "Dude, this is exactly what I meant. If you can't talk to us, no matter which words we use, how in the hell will you talk to Bella?"

"I don't…" He shut his eyes, his anxiety giving way to embarrassment. "In my time, husbands didn't discuss these things with their wives, let alone unwed boys and their girlfriends."

"You don't think your parents talked about sex?" Emmett asked.

"What?"

"Your human parents, The Masens." I shot Emmett a warning glance which he missed as his eyes were still focused on his drawing. "Don't you think they ever talked about this stuff?"

"Even if they did," Edward replied through his teeth, "what bearing would that have on Bella and me?"

"Plenty." Emmett used his massive hand to erase the inner curve of his dirt maiden's right thigh. "If your parents talked about sex 100 years ago, don't you think you should be able talk about it now?"

Edward and I gaped at Emmett, our incredulity and awe bouncing off each other. It was easy to think Emmett was only about his Blonde, brawls, and bears, but beneath that unflappably affable exterior was an extremely astute man.

"Besides." He corrected a mistake on the ground. "God wouldn't have made women so soft and delicious if he didn't want us spreading their legs for a taste."

Edward's admiration evaporated. "You're impossible."

"And you're deluded." Emmett threw down the stick and looked at his virginal brother. "Look, man. We get it: Bella's hot and human, you're hard and holy and don't want to kill her. That's a pretty fucked situation."

"No shit," Edward deadpanned. Though his tone was annoyed, his use of an expletive suggested he was loosening up.

"But it's not the worst thing to deal with your first time out," Emmett continued. "And every new relationship has some sexual shit to work out."

"What would you know about it?" Edward asked. "Rosalie was a vampire when she found you."

Emmett's eyes hardened, his mood mellowing. "You should be the last person to ask me that."

Edward must not have been reading his thoughts because he seemed clueless. "I don't know what you mean."

Emmett sat beside him on the ground, his voice a low growl. "Did you forget the last night of her life? What those suit-and-tie fucks did to my Rosie? That was her first and only experience with sex. First and only."

Emmett's words hung heavy in the air around us, followed shortly by Edward's chagrin for missing the obvious. Rosalie refused to be defined by her past and preferred we forget it ever happened, so we did.

But Emmett never would.

"Add to that her anger about losing her mortality and ability to have children." Emmett shook his head. "Naw, dude. Sex was anything but easy in the beginning."

"And Alice and I were different as night and day," I confessed. "She was pure, a blank slate in every way, and I had scars and decades of experience. Though I had a lot to teach her, I also had much to learn."

"So we may not know exactly what you're going through with Bella," Emmett said, "but we could help if you'd take the scaredy-stick out of your ass long enough."

Edward's nerves receded in the face of our honesty. "How long?"

Emmett clapped him on the back with a loud snort. "You're gonna be all right, baby bro. By the time we get through, Bella's gonna be after you like a hot, sexy kitten panting for cream. And if you really pay attention, you can get _her_ to cream just by slipping your…"

I held up my hands. "Ease him in, Em."

"Right, okay." He clapped his hands and pointed the big stick at the crude naked woman on the ground between us. And all jokes aside, her biological authenticity surprised me.

Although…

"Shouldn't you have given her a trim?" I asked. "Bella's not a cave-woman."

"This is the moss you brought me," Emmett said. "And it was too pretty to separate. Now," he said to a gaping Edward. "You know all Bella's body parts, so I won't waste time with that. The point here is to understand the power of stimulating two areas simultaneously to maximize her satisfaction."

Edward's golden eyes darkened a bit. "Go on."

"Take these for example." Emmett pointed at the figure's ears. "Ears are sexy because they're always on display and appropriate to fondle in public. So if you trace the shell of her ear with your tongue while you fingerfuck her in private, then when you lick…"

Edward started. "Emmett!"

"What?"

Edward pinched the bridge of his nose, arousal and annoyance pulling him in opposite directions. "I don't… that is, we haven't… uh…"

His desperate eyes pleaded with me, and I cleared my throat. "Maybe we should back up a bit, figure out where your boundaries are, and work with those for the time being."

Understanding lighted in Emmett's eyes, and he laid down the stick. "My bad, bro. Got a little ahead of myself."

"Your heart was in the right place, Emmett," Edward said. "So thank you."

"No problem," he said, a wicked grin splitting his face. "Though my heart had little to do with it."

Edward sighed, and I decided to take over. "What lines have you and Bella crossed?"

"I'm not sure how to answer that." His eyes wandered toward the forest. "It's not the easiest thing to quantify."

"How about yes or no questions?" I asked, earning an eager nod from Emmett. "Less embarrassing that way," he added.

Edward waved me on, so I started with the basics. "You've obviously kissed, so we can move past that."

"Hold on." Emmett held up a hand. "_Where_ have you kissed her?"

"In her bedroom, on her porch, in our…"

"No, no." Emmett pointed to the drawing. "Where on her body?"

"Oh." Edward's eyes darted to him. "Why?"

"Kissing her mouth is step one," he explained. "If you've kissed her anywhere else, we need to know that."

"And if you've used tongue," I added.

"Well, uh…" Edward palmed the back of his neck. "Everything I've seen, I've kissed. And uh, yes... with uh, with tongue."

I was proud of his openness. "Could you be a little more specific?"

"Okay. Her uh... her lips, of course. Her lips, her cheeks, her chin." His voice deepened. "The hollow beneath her jawline, the dip in her collarbone, the curve of her shoulders, the expanse above her exquisite breasts…"

Emmett elbowed me. "Now we're getting somewhere!"

"… each perfect peak, their pebbled tips, the sweaty valley between, the softness of her belly…"

"Okay." His desire was becoming my own, and with Alice nowhere nearby, I needed to get a grip on myself.

_Probably not the best way to put that_.

"I think we get the picture," I said aloud.

"Yeah, we do." Emmett licked his teeth. "And what a picture it is."

"Stop that," Edward half-smiled. "You don't see me picturing Rosalie."

Emmett flexed his arms. "That's because you value your life."

Edward turned his attention to me. "I have kissed and touched every inch of her body from her waistline to her hairline."

"Nice." Emmett fist-bumped his shoulder. "Front and back?"

"Back?"

"Yes!" Emmett and I nodded. "Definitely back," he said.

Edward wasn't convinced. "Really?"

"A woman's entire body is an erogenous zone in her beloved's hands," I said, "but especially those places that seldom get touched. Like the back of her neck, her shoulder blades, her spinal column."

"And lower," Emmett added.

Edward's eyebrows shot up, a small grin playing at the corner of his mouth. "I could see that."

"The inside of her wrist," I said.

"The top of her foot."

"Behind her knee."

"Her forehead."

"Yes!" I high-fived Emmett as Edward frowned in confusion. "Her forehead?"

"It's endearing, innocent, and shamelessly erotic." Emmett tilted his head. "Rosalie loves it."

"So does Alice."

"And Bella will too." Emmett nodded confidently. "I mean, Esme does, and she and Bella are very..."

"Esme?" Edward came to his feet. "We're going to talk about Esme now?"

"Dude." Emmett pulled Edward back to the rock. "Esme is maternal and lovely and the heart of our family, but she's a woman. And Carlisle, our maker, is a man. A man who was celibate for more than three hundred years when he met her. Three hundred years!"

"Why do you think they're so happy all the time? Here's a hint." I lowered my voice. "Because Carlisle knows how to lay the pipe."

Emmett roared in laughter as Edward covered his ears. "I am not hearing this. I am not hearing this. I am not…"

"All right, all right." I yanked his hands down, stifling my laughter. "No Carlisle-Esme talk. We promise."

Emmett closed his eyes in solemnity. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

Edward rolled his eyes but otherwise relaxed.

"Now getting back to what you and Bella have done," I said. "How is that working for you?"

"It's incredible, unbelievable. She's… we…" He sighed, the sound full of heat and longing. "There are no words."

"Yeah," Emmett said. "I sure don't know any."

A rising discomfort began to overwhelm Edward's happiness. "So why are you upset?"

Edward looked away, mumbling under his breath so quietly neither of us caught it. "What was that?" I asked.

"It's not enough," he said after a moment.

This was what we needed for this conversation to yield real results. I raised a brow to Emmett in warning, and he caught my drift.

"What do you mean?" I asked Edward.

"I mean, you were right," he said with a surprising lack of self-flagellation. "Being with Bella in any way is amazing, more than I ever thought or dreamed I could have. But she's my mate—I know that now—and I want more of her."

Emmett glanced at me. "How much more?"

Edward met his eyes, desire rippling off him. "All of her."

"Okay." Emmett cleared his throat, a clear sign he was treading carefully. "Does she know that?"

"Of course not." Edward sat up. "I wouldn't want to pressure her."

"Not for nothing," Emmett said, "but as I understand it, she's the one pressuring you."

Edward looked at me, and I held up my hands. "You know there are no secrets in this family."

Emmett snorted. "You don't need vampire superpowers to know Bella wants to jump your skinny little bones."

"Is it that obvious?"

"To everyone but you," I said. _"She doesn't see you as you see yourself." _

Edward didn't reply, so I continued aloud. "This, as I said earlier, is the crux of the problem between you and Bella. You refuse to see her as a modern woman aware of her needs and wants, both of which she seeks to gratify with you."

"Though I gotta say, man, getting on board with her change was one hell of a step," Emmett said.

"Yeah." Edward's smile didn't reach his eyes. "Assuming she still wants that."

"Are you kidding?" Emmett asked. "The only question is how old she'll be when it happens. She doesn't doubt you for a second."

"Emmett's right. I felt her energy when she told us she wasn't sure about the change. She was definitely anxious, but every time she looked at you, it disappeared. Just give it time."

"But how am I supposed to do that?" Edward was on his feet in a flash, pacing in front of the rock. "How can I expand our physical boundaries without knowing she's in this forever?"

"She did," Emmett said.

Edward stopped in front of him. "What?"

"When you reconciled last weekend, she didn't know you'd changed your mind about her immortality, did she?"

"No."

"Yet she laid herself out for you anyway." Emmett picked up a stone and tossed it over the cliff. "I don't see why you can't do the same thing."

"If you did," I said, "it would go a long way to showing Bella you respect her wishes and boundaries."

Edward stared out into the trees, and we gave him his space. The real work was at hand, but Edward couldn't be rushed. He may have been Carlisle's first child, but as he stood there debating with himself, he looked every bit of his seventeen years.

"I am afraid of being unable to handle more than what we do now," he admitted. "I mean, I want more with Bella. God, I want it all. But I'm already having trouble remaining… composed."

I noted the return of his anxiety. "What do you mean?"

"Thinking I'd lost Bella forever when she left me in the woods." He paused, the sudden dejection nearly crushing me. "It cured me of my bloodlust. Her scent, the thump of her heart… they no longer bait me but remind me she's still alive and still mine."

He walked closer to the edge, his nerves getting the best of him. "But there are other hungers, other needs recently uncovered. And with each touch and taste, I want more. And…" A low growl rumbled in his chest as he battled his self-loathing. "I don't know how to take more without taking her life. She's too good for me, yes, more than I deserve. But even if I somehow get past that, she's too preciously fragile. So easily broken and…"

"Are we talking about the same girl?"

Edward clenched his fists. "I'm not joking, Emmett."

"Neither am I." He shoved off the rock, meeting Edward at the edge of the cliff. "Bella is human, her body more breakable than ours. But dude, Bella is no ordinary mortal. She faced James alone, trusted you to suck out his venom without killing her, and isn't afraid of any of us. She had the guts to dump your stupid ass for trying to leave her and the courage to take you back. Whatever strength her body lacks, her _cajones _make up for it."

"Bella doesn't have _cajones_," Edward replied after a moment.

"_Cajones, _ovaries." Emmett shrugged. "Either way, it puts you on equal footing. So stop using her humanity to deny what you want, and let's figure this thing out."

Emmett had pushed harder than I would have liked, but surprisingly, Edward hadn't bolted. His emotions ranged from annoyed to intrigued to anxious and back, but he lingered on intrigued a little longer with each pass.

So I pushed him.

"Bedding a human isn't impossible." His head whipped to mine, but I kept my focus on the ground. "You can't bite or bend them the way you can a vampire, but it can be done."

"Our cousins have been doing so for centuries," Emmett pointed out.

The reminder of Tanya inched Edward toward annoyance, so I quickly brought him back. "You just need patience, control, and intel."

"Intel?"

"You need to know what your woman wants." I felt his apprehension rising but continued through his silence. "Every woman is different, and each time with each woman is different. I know Alice like the back of my hand, have been with her thousands of times…"

"Thousands?" Edward scoffed.

"No." Emmett snorted. "More like hundreds of thousands."

Edward's eyes widened, and I shrugged. "A few times per day times 365 times how many years have we been together?"

"Like I said," Emmett nodded, "Hundreds of thousands."

"But this is not about quantity," I added as Edward's insecurities crested. "This is about quality, about making love to the woman you love. Making her body sing with every touch, baptizing her in reverence and affection."

"And fucking her until she can't see straight."

"That too, Emmett," I said as Edward shook his head. "And if your bloodlust is really under control, there's no reason you can't do all of that and more while she's still human."

His brows furrowed as he began pacing again, waves of desire pouring off his blurring frame. Emmett rose to go to him, but I stopped him, knowing Edward needed a moment. He was so close to giving in, so close to breaking though that wall of shame and unworthiness, and I'd never wanted something so badly for another person in all my life.

"How?" Edward finally asked.

I nearly fainted with relief as Emmett grinned. "Let's get down to business."

***peeks from behind her hands* **

**Did you like it? Hate it? Wish I'd left well enough alone? **

**I'm more nervous about this than I was about B/E's honeymoon in SP, so PLEASE tell me what you think. Yes, I'm begging. It's that serious.**

**Thanks for reading… and for being kind when you review! xoxo**


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